I've been thinking...
...a lot about the polygamist cult in Texas that has had all of their kids taken away. I waffle on whether or not the government did the right thing. It's certainly easy enough to justify...we "normal" citizens can sit haughtily in our "normal" environment and belittle, bemean and besmirk all who dare deviate from the standards that we have set for all to follow. Of course, sometimes we do so "for the sake of the children" and I understand that. Trying to keep emotion out of an emotional issue may be difficult, but it is necessary.
Most, if not all, religions that I have ever heard of have, at one time or another, relegated women to second class citizens at best. The Bible itself says that women are to obey men and then it goes on to say that we are "dirty" during our natural monthly reminder that we are not pregnant. We've come a long way since then, but it took thousands of years. This cult is just a bit behind us.
I understand the reason that people think it's awful to marry off young women and then have them get pregnant. I just wish that they would look at their own daughters. Why can't they begin at home? How many 15 year old mothers are there out in the world with no father in site? I'm not saying that justifies what the 50 year old men are doing to those young women...but I don't know why we can't protect our own daughters from ANY men OR boys who want to use them for their own sexual pleasure.
Doctors don't have to report a 15 year old pregnant girl to the cops if the male who knocked her up is of a certain age. How silly is that? We prosecute 16 year-olds for crimes every day. Why can't we prosecute them for underage sex? I suppose someone will say, "Oh, kids are gonna try sex, you can't stop them!"
Well SURE you can. It just takes time and effort. And the nice thing is that it takes less time than it takes to build a day care center in the local high school. We make it easy on our girls to have babies. When there were consequences...when you had to have a husband to have a baby or society would look down on you...you tried really really hard not to get pregnant. Certainly some did and things were tough for them. But it's not tough enough now. Our society not only allows teenaged pregnancy...it subsidizes it. And in this society, I can't send my kid to school with an aspirin but the school can send him home with a condom.
There's nothing good about this cult. Actually, I did hear that they seemed to eat a very good diet...but other than that...everything sucks. Even the dresses suck. They remind me of my sophomore year Homecoming dress. But I do think that they could have just taken the men away and lessened the trauma to the kids. They can have all the court proceedings that they want to...just let the kids stay at home. If the men aren't there, the kids are safe enough for the time being.
So why did the cops take the kids instead of the fathers? Because they want to "be sure that the parents don't try to put words in the kids mouths". The cops are gonna keep the kids quiet. Can you say McMartin Pre-school?
As odd as we find the cult to be, they are in America and they have the right to practice whatever religion that they want to. Of course, they can't abuse children in the name of the Lord...but the fact that they live off on their own shouldn't be a bad thing in and of itself. Why does the government always refer to these places as "compounds"? Are they trying to manipulate us with the words they choose? Will they do that to the kids in their custody?
The fact that these people have gone off and lived outside of society is something to consider. They took those kids out of the only culture that they've ever known and dumped them in the middle of a world that's entirely foreign to them. And suddenly those mothers don't have their kids. Maybe they shouldn't...but due process is a right...not a nicety.
I don't think that the kids were in any imminent danger although I understand why some people said that they do. But in most cases of child abuse, the cops arrest the abuser and leave the child home with the non-abusive parent. So why are these people being treated differently?
...a lot about the polygamist cult in Texas that has had all of their kids taken away. I waffle on whether or not the government did the right thing. It's certainly easy enough to justify...we "normal" citizens can sit haughtily in our "normal" environment and belittle, bemean and besmirk all who dare deviate from the standards that we have set for all to follow. Of course, sometimes we do so "for the sake of the children" and I understand that. Trying to keep emotion out of an emotional issue may be difficult, but it is necessary.
Most, if not all, religions that I have ever heard of have, at one time or another, relegated women to second class citizens at best. The Bible itself says that women are to obey men and then it goes on to say that we are "dirty" during our natural monthly reminder that we are not pregnant. We've come a long way since then, but it took thousands of years. This cult is just a bit behind us.
I understand the reason that people think it's awful to marry off young women and then have them get pregnant. I just wish that they would look at their own daughters. Why can't they begin at home? How many 15 year old mothers are there out in the world with no father in site? I'm not saying that justifies what the 50 year old men are doing to those young women...but I don't know why we can't protect our own daughters from ANY men OR boys who want to use them for their own sexual pleasure.
Doctors don't have to report a 15 year old pregnant girl to the cops if the male who knocked her up is of a certain age. How silly is that? We prosecute 16 year-olds for crimes every day. Why can't we prosecute them for underage sex? I suppose someone will say, "Oh, kids are gonna try sex, you can't stop them!"
Well SURE you can. It just takes time and effort. And the nice thing is that it takes less time than it takes to build a day care center in the local high school. We make it easy on our girls to have babies. When there were consequences...when you had to have a husband to have a baby or society would look down on you...you tried really really hard not to get pregnant. Certainly some did and things were tough for them. But it's not tough enough now. Our society not only allows teenaged pregnancy...it subsidizes it. And in this society, I can't send my kid to school with an aspirin but the school can send him home with a condom.
There's nothing good about this cult. Actually, I did hear that they seemed to eat a very good diet...but other than that...everything sucks. Even the dresses suck. They remind me of my sophomore year Homecoming dress. But I do think that they could have just taken the men away and lessened the trauma to the kids. They can have all the court proceedings that they want to...just let the kids stay at home. If the men aren't there, the kids are safe enough for the time being.
So why did the cops take the kids instead of the fathers? Because they want to "be sure that the parents don't try to put words in the kids mouths". The cops are gonna keep the kids quiet. Can you say McMartin Pre-school?
As odd as we find the cult to be, they are in America and they have the right to practice whatever religion that they want to. Of course, they can't abuse children in the name of the Lord...but the fact that they live off on their own shouldn't be a bad thing in and of itself. Why does the government always refer to these places as "compounds"? Are they trying to manipulate us with the words they choose? Will they do that to the kids in their custody?
The fact that these people have gone off and lived outside of society is something to consider. They took those kids out of the only culture that they've ever known and dumped them in the middle of a world that's entirely foreign to them. And suddenly those mothers don't have their kids. Maybe they shouldn't...but due process is a right...not a nicety.
I don't think that the kids were in any imminent danger although I understand why some people said that they do. But in most cases of child abuse, the cops arrest the abuser and leave the child home with the non-abusive parent. So why are these people being treated differently?
posted by Meg Kelso | 6:54 PM
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